This previous week on the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Samsung and Hyundai Motor Company unveiled a private 5G network streamlined for low-power gadgets that join throughout massive amenities. The businesses reported their manufacturing facility’s non-public 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) community will transmit inner inspection information all through the power, dashing up the inspection course of and outstripping the efficiency of the manufacturing facility’s earlier Wi-Fi system.
Developed by industry partners together with Qualcomm and Ericsson and standardized by the cellular requirements consortium 3GPP in 2022, RedCap was designed partially to fulfill the wants of business and manufacturing environments. It varieties half of a bigger suite of applied sciences known as 5G New Radio (5G NR), which reduces 5G bandwidth and optimizes power consumption for prolonged battery life.
As of January, Samsung and Hyundai performed a pilot challenge for his or her non-public 5G RedCap know-how at Samsung’s R&D center in Suwon, South Korea. The objective, they mentioned, was to judge the capabilities and built-in efficiency of RedCap all through all the community, starting with the car inspection terminal.
Samsung has been collaborating with the carmaker to modernize Hyundai’s Ulsan Plant in Ulsan, South Korea—the world’s largest automotive plant, with a 5 million square-meter footprint and common each day manufacturing of 6,000 autos.
RedCap Tech for Dependable Sensible Factories
“[RedCap] is a superb choice for situations the place low latency is crucial,” a Hyundai spokesperson instructed IEEE Spectrum. “This consists of working many automated guided autos, autonomous mobile robots, monitoring work security, working mission-critical functions, and distant management.”
“One of many key benefits of Personal 5G just isn’t solely its velocity but additionally its reliability,’” a Hyundai spokesperson mentioned through e-mail. “When there are [only a] few wi-fi gadgets, utilizing the present Wi-Fi community for manufacturing facility operations just isn’t an issue. However when extra wi-fi gadgets are used, points like frequency interference could make it tougher to function factories.”
In the meantime, Samsung has been rolling out private 5G networks in a spread of areas, not simply in sensible factories, but additionally in hospitals, development websites, in addition to navy and native authorities amenities.
RedCap permits steady 5G connections all through an organization’s amenities, a Samsung spokesperson mentioned, guaranteeing uninterrupted and low-latency 5G communication throughout all the protection space.
“Hyundai Motor was the primary Korean firm to implement [private] 5G in mass manufacturing,” vice chairman and head of Hyundai’s E-FOREST Center Kia Jae Min Lee mentioned in a press launch. “We’re additionally the [automobile] trade’s first to confirm 5G RedCap know-how, reinforcing our world management in smart manufacturing options. We’ll proceed to speed up its commercialization.”
“When an enterprise establishes a devoted 5G community, it ensures that solely licensed gadgets can entry the company community,” continued the Samsung spokesperson. “This method differs from the shared infrastructure mannequin utilized by public telco corporations that cater to a variety of subscribers.”
